Boise State Broncos mush Huskies up and down the blue turf

A beautiful night in Boise and near perfection on the field as the Boise State Broncos took care of the Connecticut Huskies.

There would be no looking ahead to next week’s game for the Boise State Broncos this time around.

The Broncos scored on all seven of their first half drives, built a 41-0 lead, and never looked back in a 62-7 victory over the Connecticut Huskies on Saturday night.

A week before heading to Stillwater, OK to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Broncos could have easily looked ahead and forgotten about the Huskies. Instead, Brett Rypien and the entire Bronco team put on a clinic.

Rypien was 21-28 for 362 yards and 3 touchdowns while Alexander Mattison ran 11 times for 115 yards with two scores as the Boise State offense had a record-setting day. Their 818 yds, 514 of which came in the first half, were the most in program history, besting the mark set of 742 against Colorado State in 2011.

John Hightower was stellar in his second game as a Bronco. He was a threat in both the passing game and run game, totaling 174 yards. Hightower had 5 catches for 119 yards plus one touchdown and 1 carry for 55 yards and a score.

A.J. Richardson also went over the 100-yard mark in receiving, finishing with 100 yards.

Boise State’s defense was top notch, holding the Huskies to 193 total yards and only nine first downs. Though the Broncos forced only one turnover and one sack, they had five 3-and-outs and forced nine punts. The Huskies didn’t cross the 50-yard line until midway thru the third quarter.

First-half highlights

Starting with their first play on offense, one might have guessed the Boise State Broncos were going to be in for a great day.

After a three-and-out by UConn, Alexander Mattison took his first hand off for 35 yards. It would be the first of 13 plays that went over 20 yards or more for the Broncos on the day.

The drive stalled out, however, and Boise State settled for a 28-yard field goal.

Backed by another three-and-out, the Broncos offense got back on the field. On the second play, Rypien found Hightower for a 67-yard touchdown pass to put the Broncos up 10-0.

The Huskies finally managed a first down on their third series, but Avery Williams ended the drive by picking up his first interception of 2018.

A few plays later Rypien found tight end John Bates for a 24-yard score and, after another three-and-out, the Broncos used even more playmakers. Khalil Shakir had back-to-back runs totaling 39 yards and Mattison finished the drive off with a 1-yard run, giving the Broncos a 24-0 lead.

The second quarter saw more big plays from Boise State. Mattison had a 33-yard run and Hightower had a nifty 55-yard rushing touchdown off of a reverse. Mattison added a nine-yard score and Hoggarth added a 44-yard field with two seconds left in the half to put Boise State up 41-0 at halftime.

Second half

Given the score, it was likely the first-team offense was only going to get one more series.

That lasted all of one play.

Richardson took a five-yard pass from Rypien. Richardson then used his speed and excellent downfield blocking, and raced 74 yards for a touchdown to open the second half.

The Broncos — behind backup quarterback Chase Cord and freshman running back Andrew Van Buren — put together a nice drive. They eventually were forced to punt for the first time — at 9:13 left in the third — after which the Huskies put together a 93-yard drive.

David Pindell found Andrew McClean on a 15-yard touchdown pass to finally get the Huskies on the board with 5:52 left in the third. The drive was highlighted by a 55-yard run by Kevin Mensah.

A Van Buren and Cord run-heavy drive followed, in which both had carries go for over 20 yards. Van Buren capped it off with a three-yard score, making it 55-7.

Cord finished off the scoring with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Akilian Butler with 10:12 left in the fourth.

Butler was one of 10 players to have a reception for Boise State.

Cord had 56 yards passing and 41 on the ground. The Broncos ran for 400 yards, with Van Buren totaling 75 and Skyler Siebold tossing in 35.

Pindell was 11-21 for 71 yards for UConn. Mensah led the Huskies in rushing with 82 yards.

On a night in which plenty of players saw action, David Moa, Tyson Maeva and Octavius Evans were not among them. Though suited up, they are battling injuries and will hopefully be back in action next week against Oklahoma State.

Kickoff for that game is scheduled for 9/15 at 1:30 pm (MT).

Comments

About Jason Haskins

Jason is a 2001 graduate of Boise State and has been an avid fan of Boise State Athletics since the late 90's. Originally from Spring Creek, NV, Jason grew up a fan of the Fred Gatlin era Nevada Wolf Pack, but immediately switched his allegiances while attending school at Boise State. He hasn't looked back since and remains a loyal supporter of Boise State. For more: jason-haskins.com